The UK government is being urged to ban the use of plastic microbeads in cosmetics.

More than 140,000 people have backed a petition launched by Greenpeace UK just three weeks ago, saying the UK should follow the US in forbidding the use of “these wholly unnecessary bits of plastic”.

Microbeads have some industrial and scientific applications but are also used in a variety of cosmetic and personal care products such as toothpaste and exfoliants as mild abrasives. They are generally made of polyethylene, but occasionally from polypropylene or polystyrene. All are non-biodegradeable.

Tens of thousands of beads can be washed away following each application. They can then pass through water treatment systems and pollute waterways and the sea.

Microbeads may be ingested by marine life, which mistake them for food particles. They can also leach out substances of concern such as phthalates.

Will McCallum, head of oceans at Greenpeace, said, “Banning microbeads is a no-brainer and the UK is lagging behind. Given the huge bipartisan support in the US for a ban on microbeads and the promises of many major brands to phase them out, Greenpeace has launched a campaign calling on the UK government to follow suit and ban the bead.”

McCallum added that the group is working with other NGOs, politicians, retailers and major brands to move the campaign forward.

Following growing public concern, US president Barack Obama signed a bill outlawing the sale and distribution of toothpaste and exfoliating or cleansing products containing microbeads at the end of last year. Manufacturing will be banned from mid-2017, with the act entering full force two years later.

The Canadian government is planning to take similar regulatory action.

Environment ministers from Sweden, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg called on the EU to ban microplastics in cosmetics and detergents in December 2014. Italy also backed the idea, which was first proposed by the Netherlands in 2013. But other countries, including the UK, favoured a non-legislative approach.

Microbeads were banned from cosmetics bearing the EU eco-label a year ago.

In October, the industry association representing the EU’s £54bn per year cosmetics industry urged its members to stop using them. Cosmetics Europe said change was needed given public concerns over plastic debris in the marine environment and the availability of alternative materials.

Microbeads should be discontinued by 2020, it said, while noting that the “vast majority” of small plastic particles in the sea are produced by the breakdown of larger materials. Charges on plastic bags should help.

Some major cosmetics manufacturers are already phasing out the materials. L’Oréal announced in 2014 that it would phase out polyethylene microbeads by 2017, starting with its Biotherm and Body Shop brands.